Two local residents up for Hall of Fame

Longtime local residents Warner “Tony” Coffin and Gerald “Jerry” Tuckwin will be among four men inducted into the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame on May 2 at Prairie Band Casino and Resorts Convention Center in Mayetta.

Coffin, a Prairie Band Potawatomi, coached several sports at Haskell Indian Nations University, including football, basketball, baseball and boxing and was known for mentoring Billy Mills, an AIAHOF inductee and Kansas University graduate who won the 10,000-meter run at the 1964 Olympics.

Tuckwin, also of the Prairie Band Potawatomi tribe, is being inducted for his contributions to cross country and track and field at Haskell. During his 32 years at HINU, he also served as the school’s athletic director.

Joseph T. “Joe” Hipp, a Blackfeet Indian boxer from Browning, Mon., and Melvin A. “Pete” Peterson, an Eastern Band Cherokee, are the others scheduled for induction.